Lufthansa to fly Munich–Phoenix on the A350-900 from August 2027
Phoenix has had no regular nonstop to a Lufthansa Group hub until now, and Condor dropped its own German link in 2025.
Lufthansa will launch nonstop flights between Munich Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on August 3, 2027. The Airbus A350-900 will serve the route three times a week, with departures on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. It adds Arizona to the airline's transatlantic map.
The route is the first regularly scheduled nonstop between Phoenix and a Lufthansa Group hub in the carrier group's current network. According to One Mile at a Time, it covers approximately 5,823 miles, or 9,371 kilometres, in each direction, so passengers no longer need a connection elsewhere.
The announcement arrived one day after Lufthansa revealed a Frankfurt–Columbus service. That gave the airline two new US cities on consecutive days. Both come from the Lufthansa Group's summer 2027 schedule, which it describes as its most extensive network growth programme since 2020.
That schedule includes ten new intercontinental routes and extra frequencies across the group's airlines. Beyond Phoenix and Columbus, it covers a new Discover Airlines service from Frankfurt to Edmonton International Airport and a planned ITA Airways link between Rome Fiumicino and Caracas.
Lufthansa's announcement calls Arizona's state capital one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States. The airline expects the flights to carry leisure travellers drawn to the American Southwest as well as passengers visiting for business, with Munich as the link to the rest of Europe.
Why Phoenix has been underserved
Phoenix is an important hub for American Airlines, with extensive connections across the United States, but its nonstop links to Europe have been more limited than those of the big coastal gateways. British Airways and American Airlines both fly to London Heathrow.
Air France added a Paris Charles De Gaulle connection in 2024. Condor, the German carrier, flew between Germany and Phoenix before it discontinued the route in 2025. Lufthansa's service is therefore a fresh attempt at a lasting nonstop to one of Europe's major aviation hubs.
Lufthansa is a Star Alliance member, so the route widens that alliance's presence in the Phoenix market. Passengers can connect through Munich to destinations across Europe and beyond. Travellers starting in Germany and elsewhere in Europe get an easier way to reach Arizona.
Commercial success will depend partly on that connecting traffic, alongside people travelling specifically between Munich and Phoenix. Three weekly departures give the airline a starting point to assess demand before any change to frequencies. Lufthansa has not published fares or a load-factor target.
A350 for Phoenix, Dreamliner for Columbus
The two new American destinations get different aircraft. Phoenix will be flown by the Airbus A350-900, while the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, fitted with Lufthansa's Allegris cabins, is assigned to Columbus. Both are modern long-haul types, and the split reflects wider fleet-planning decisions rather than one aircraft for every new US route.
The Columbus service starts on May 5 and runs year-round. Flight LH406 leaves Frankfurt at 11:15 AM and lands in Columbus at 2:00 PM. Flight LH407 departs Columbus at 4:20 PM and reaches Frankfurt at 6:15 AM the next day, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Columbus International Airport has never had a nonstop to Europe. A $46 million revenue guarantee underpins the route, which reduces the financial risk of launching it. Our report on how Lufthansa gives Columbus, Ohio, its first nonstop flight to Europe covers that launch in more detail.
Cirium data cited in the Columbus coverage shows more than 900 travellers a day flew from the airport to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia in 2025. London Heathrow was the most popular long-haul destination. Lufthansa says the flights open one-stop itineraries to more than 130 destinations.
Columbus is also rebuilding. A $2 billion project will replace the airport's 1958 terminal with a modern facility able to handle up to 13 million passengers a year, with 36 gates. Its other international flights are year-round Toronto and seasonal services to Montréal, Cancún, Punta Cana and San Juan.
On the count of routes, the Columbus coverage described that service as Lufthansa's 30th to the United States, split between Frankfurt and Munich. Lufthansa would have more US routes than any other airline, yet is second for US destinations behind British Airways with 27, whose flights run almost exclusively from Heathrow.
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Images: Lufthansa; Simple Flying
